This has to be one of the riskiest jobs in Lagos state. It is the job of cleaning roads and streets in the state.

The job involves sweeping up the ever-busy roads in Lagos, even right in the midst of very active vehicular movements.

Work, for these road managers, resumes at 6am – just at the time when motorists in Lagos are known to race to work at dizzying speed.

Even more worrisome is the fact that many of those recruited and exposed to such high-risk activity are people well over 50 years old. This is in a state with a reputation for high number of reckless and “one-way” drivers.


Some of these road managers have been reportedly hit by motorists. Such occurrence has left them either severely injured or dead.

That notwithstanding, in a society with a terrific shortage of employment opportunities – choices are quite limited for these road managers.

By the way, this job is currently being carried out by individuals employed by the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI).

In 2017, the Lagos state government set up the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI) as a comprehensive plan to privatize all aspects of waste management in the city.



Currently, Lagos state has the record of having the largest amount of domestic and industrial waste in the world. This is put at 13,000 tonnes per day. This is followed by New York’s 10,000 tonnes per day.

CLI has an ambitious goal to make Lagos the cleanest and greenest city in Africa by 2025. Currently, the former war-torn Kigali, capital city of Rwanda is ranked the cleanest city in Africa.

CLI recruited 27,000 community sanitation workers (CSW) or "road managers" across the state. The recruitment was publicized via various media channels.